Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Kung Fu Hustle

Having watched Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle a number of times already, this viewing allowed me to not have to pay close attention to the main storyline and instead watch with a discerning eye, picking up nuances that might have otherwise been missed the first time through. One of the main elements immediately noticeable is the incorporation of an astonishingly high number of cultural references and parodies, both Chinese and western. Chow is very deliberate in paying homage to past Chinese classics, such as naming characters after The Return of the Condor Heroes and incorporating elements of traditional Chinese wuxiao fighting styles and stories. He does not, however, shy away from modern day western classics, either. In fact, the number of references to western films and culture outweigh Chinese ones by a good amount.
Starting off with the introduction of the landlady, the tone of the film is immediately set, as she is portrayed as running down the stairs of her home like a cartoon character, complete with sound effects. Later, in the chase scene with the landlady chasing Sing, the legs are shown as a blur, like in old Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons. Chow knows his target audience and understands that he is appealing to a younger generation with this film, a generation that will appreciate the Chinese tributes as well as understand the western parodies. Much of the costume design and many of the lines also seem to stem from decidedly western sources. The penultimate fight scene involving Sing and the Axe Gang is reminiscent of two major American movies, Kill Bill’s scene between Uma Thurman and the Crazy 88s, and The Matrix Reloaded, between Neo and the army of Agent Smiths. In fact, Sing is referred to by the landlady and landlord as “the one”, just as Neo was “the one”, and like Quentin Tarantino had Uma Thurman dressed like Bruce Lee, Chow also had Sing dressed in Bruce Lee’s outfit.
Chow recognized through the international success of Shaolin Soccer that his style of moviemaking struck a chord with a particular demographic. Chow has masterfully bridged the gap between traditional wuxia films, Hong Kong style cinema, and western comedies. In fact, Chow references his own film in the very beginning, crushing a soccer ball and exclaiming “no more soccer”. Perhaps this is his way of saying that he does not want to be known internationally as just the man who created Shaolin Soccer, but as an accomplished film maker.

1 comment:

  1. I totally agree with you. The fusion that he has instilled upon his movies has definitely made a non-conventional movie. Through the different and odd obsure nature of these movies, I feel it has created much publicity because of this, and has helped him become a critically acclaimed film maker.

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